Sgt Paul Jackson, of the regional underwater team, said divers had found out Pte Smith served as part of the 6th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment and landed in Gallipoli, in Turkey on July 2, 1915.

The medal police divers found in the River Loxley.

The officer said the the team were desperate to reunite the medal with his family.

Sgt Jackson said: “We were on an operational job on behalf of South Yorkshire Police at the time and we were waiding through the water near Hillsborough stadium and doing a search.

“We were going slowly working our way down the river and one of the lads stopped because he thought he’d found a coin but then we realised it was a war medal.”